This 'Boring' Album Cover is Hiding a Masterpiece

[@omer-sela-rothenberg]

I actually love the minimalistic cover, it actually feels like you're at the very edge of an imagined universe where most of the physics of the inner artwork fray to nothingness

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

YES to YES. And the inner artwork opens to us as we journey into the music. And "Close to the Edge" is so complex and frenetic, like you I appreciate the outside cover being meditative & centering.

[@blameitonyaboi]

its such a great album cover

[@VikasBhargava1981]

The cover shows the "edge" of that island inside. It's green and fades to infinite space. So that minimalist cover is in tandem with the artwork inside, they don't make sense in isolation

[@thehighlightsreel953]

Lmao wtf

[@esser7678]

I listen to this album on mushrooms and when you see the cover it has a very interesting effect, where the letters light up light neon.

[@izzystradlin7794]

As a massive progressive rock and Rush fan, i gotta say that Close To The Edge is the magnum opus of progressive rock genre. The title track of the same name should be taught in music school.

[@xXxXcrosbykidXxXx]

I don't disagree, on my first ever listen those "AHHHH"'s breaking through the chaos hooked me immediately. But God damn does Tales from Topographic Oceans with The Revealing Science of God give it a run for its money in my books. Relayer with The Gates of Deirium is up there as well.

[@chi2884]

The revealing is my absolute favorite yes song! I'm happy to see someone else feel like it's a contender to CTTE

[@TheUnmitigatedDawn]

Close to the Edge's artwork never seemed boring. It looked minimalistically ethereal.

[@absinthetic]

As an artist myself, I know that the digital distribution of additional album art is (unfortunately) sequestered off to "Special Edition" downloadable content. I do agree though, that some of that artwork needs to have an option for showing it while listening to the album digitally.

[@nicholsonfile]

I guarantee the mediums/shops we use to stream music will be replaced by something else eventually. Those new places *could* offer a different visual experience.

[@fkknsikk]

@@nicholsonfile There's such an obvious solution too. Just show the panoramic art automatically when you turn your device to landscape mode. They wouldn't even have to get rid of things like Canvas so everybody gets to use the type of artwork they want.

[@AmberAmber]

@@fkknsikk Its obvious now that you pointed it out ‐ but I definitely didn't think of it til you said it. I was a good student & considered becoming a public defender ‐ until my mum & I noticed the obvious REGULARLY escapes me🤣. So TY for pointing it out 😊 *edit* I had the Velvet Underground & Nico Banana on my fridge!! XO

[@LordStarscream-]

Being able to scroll through album art and even booklets when listening to an album on streaming services would be a really nice feature

[@kelechi_77]

@@LordStarscream- I've been saying this for so long! Interactive album covers, the power to peel the velvet undergrounds banana on spotify! Maybe the only reason it hasn't happened yet is because it'll belittle the vinyl experience.

[@Josh-os7vn]

amazing timing! just recently reheard the album after awhile and its crazy how vivid and imaginative Yes' world is shown in just three songs

[@AlobytesOgniddove]

3 suites.... 😜

[@leocourtney6052]

I just bought the vinyl a few weeks ago so it's perfect timing for me too

[@robertbelchick8263]

I just listened to Close to the Edge about a week ago, I put the needle on the vinyl, smoked a joint, and got lost in the music, Close to the Edge, brilliant song. The lyrics and artwork go hand and hand, especially the theme and concept of experiencing the hardships and triumphs. And You and I, beautiful song, absolutely beautiful, again great lyrics, romantic, heartfelt, mystical. Then we go right into Siberian Khatru, one of heaviest songs that "yes" has ever produced. Great album over all, Three Songs, One Album. A true masterpiece in of itself.

[@DTWilber]

You’ve got to do a cover story on “Thick as a Brick” by Jethro Tull, one of the most creative record packaging I’ve ever seen

[@martineldritch]

Agreed. When I was a kid I used to read the "story of the album" displayed on the record when I found it in stores. It was over my head but I was an avid viewer of Monty Python so no stranger to absurdist British humor back then.

[@o-mega7515]

@@martineldritch the crossword puzzle haunts me

[@o-mega7515]

It's the best packaging on a record, ever. Simple as that.

[@torna2508]

He actually made it!

[@xray7908]

You are so right about the album artwork of the 60s, 70s, and early 80s. The original Dark Side of the Moon came with a poster and couple stickers. Dave Mason's Alone Together was a triple fold out poster and the disc was marbled instead of back vinyl. Almost every album had 3 or 4 times as much artwork as a cd re-release.

[@Icsant3]

"Close to the Edge" was one of the first vinyl records I bought as a teen (I'm not that old, that's just when I got into records) and I got it for about a dollar and I love it. idk how it was in the US but here there usually were much less expensive non-gatefold versions of the original albums. I had never seen the inner artwork until this video. Holy shit

[@SonofSethoitae]

Yeah, that was a thing everywhere I think. I have a copy of Agents of Fortune by Blue Oyster Cult that was like, $8, but didn't have the gatefold

[@robgronotte1]

I had it on a re-released double play cassette with another Yes album, so even the front album art was compressed to about an inch square.

[@Icsant3]

@@robgronotte1 ugh that sucks. Great value for money tho! Lol

[@robgronotte1]

@@Icsant3 yeah, I think it was that plus The Yes Album, and I probably got it used for under $5.

[@BaronParabola]

My father who recently passed introduced me to Yes, 30 years ago. He was in hospital for 2 weeks prior, after suffering a ruptured aorta. When I collected his belongings from the hospital, Close to the edge was the cd I found in his cd player. I'd never seen inside original aldum cover even though I know its in his collection. I remember him telling me about the first time he heard it as a teen, how ethereal it sounded and how it made him feel. I like to imagine that that image was somewhere in his last thoughts. R.I.P Old Man.

[@donnaclayton8644]

So sorry to hear of your loss. 🙏

[@agent19kentuckypotbaron15]

I bought the LP in the late 80s in England and it wasn't a gatefold either. Just the front and back and an inner sleeve with the lyrics. i didn't see the inner artwork until I bought a Roger Dean book many years later. Yessongs was the best art piece though

[@josephtabar492]

Your dad is faking It! Dig HIM UP!!!!!! 🎵🎵🎶🎶🎵😭👍

[@agent19kentuckypotbaron15]

@@josephtabar492 I would get out of the grave for close to the edge.

[@guiom77]

Merci pour votre témoignage....may your father rest in peace

[@thatmarchingarrow]

Oh Yes! (Pun absolutely intended) Love this band, love this album, love Chris Squire's bass playing

[@zeppelin695]

A fantastic discussion of the functional art of album sleeves and exactly why this is my favorite concept album of all time. The collaboration between Roger Dean and Yes is one of the coolest interplays between visual art and music that I have ever come across!

[@caryrodda]

You are 100 percent spot on. I grew up in the vinyl age, and even though I progressed through 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs and now digital downloads, I have always felt something missing both in not having the full-size album artwork, and just the simple tactile sense of putting vinyl on the turntable to hear it. No surprise to me that vinyl has made somewhat of a resurgence in recent years. Thanks for another great video!

[@DarkTybou]

Both covers are extremely well thought out, both represent the edge of the void, represented with 2 colours or with a whole landscape, which represents the musical, figurative side of the album but also its more inner side, and putting this more subtle part as the main cover creates some mystery but also the album asks us to think about what the music really means to appreciate it even more

[@InvisibleFaceBass]

Great video man....first time hearing the title song I couldn't even begin to comprehend what was happening......but it intrigued the hell out of me. The more and more I listened, the more I became obsessed with the ridiculous composition. Chris Squire's bass and Bill Bruford's drums are the absolute linchpin holding the madness together. I giggle every single time I hear John Anderson's 'AAAAAAAAA' right in the middle of the organised chaos. I love the slight pause and transition into the part after that.....absolute musical genius (goddam I should start writing about music...my big brain is doing good word things right now)

[@briancherry8088]

I miss the days of laying on the floor, listening to an album for the first time.... following the printed lyrics and looking at the artwork. It took you on a journey. Now I shuffle through songs on Spotify while I am working and its only background noise. We both changed.

[@L00PdeL00P]

‘Close to the Edge Green’ is absolutely my favorite color.

[@iamanisland]

Dean also designed a couple of cool record sleeves for Uriah Heep.

[@singerofsongss]

I’m a massive Yes fan, and I’m not sure how I missed this video! And You And I is by far my favorite love song. I’m a singer, and Jon Anderson’s vocals are just to die for. I find myself listening to this album over and over again, picking out every little intricacy in his voice. This is a band that rewards deeper listening at every turn - it’s no surprise that I missed the visual aspect. Another fun thing of note is that a major meme in the Yes community is from this very album art. Specifically, the Deluxe Edition with the big yellow “L” shape bordering the left side of the album. You can find it all over the place in the real world, kind of like when everyone was finding “amogus” in stuff.

[@calvinmark2112]

Currently reading “Close to the Edge: The story of Yes” by Chris Welch. And he told an interesting story. In the early days before Yes was formed, Jon Anderson was looking to find a backing band for a potential solo career. His friend, Jack Barrie, found a band called “Gun,” who he thought might be a good fit for Anderson. Anderson rehearsed, and even did a gig at “The Marquee,” an extremely popular venue at the time. They were met with a wonderful reaction from the crowd. One day, while Anderson was at rehearsal with Gun, Barrie received many phone calls about potential gig opportunities. He couldn’t wait until Anderson returned so that he could tell him. However, Anderson had news of his own-he had been kicked out! Gun thought that with such a great success at The Marquee they didn’t need a singer and they consequently ditched Anderson. Gun went on and met relative success with their self-titled debut, but here’s the kicker: the artwork on that album also happened to be the debut of a certain artist… named Roger Dean.

[@histubeness]

That first Gun album had vocals on most tracks, just not JA's. So, if that's how it went down, I don't think the band members were being that honest with him.

[@briandraper2051]

The other aspect of the Close to the Edge cover not mentioned and impossible to capture digitally is that it was textured matt cardboard and not smooth and shiny, it had a feel to it when holding it while listening to the music. The inner gatefold picture was smooth to the touch.

[@Dingus.8895]

YES!!!!! One of my favorite KZbinr making a video about my favorite album!!!

[@liamuttt]

Thank you so much for shedding some light on this gorgeous artwork and Roger Dean’s work in general. Opening the vinyl packaging for the first time immediately changed my perspective on the album. I’ve loved Dean’s work ever since.

[@Aquatarkus96]

Hey we are profile picture buddies!

[@liamuttt]

@@Aquatarkus96 hey! That makes me happy :)

[@mbgrafix]

The album cover for URIAH HEEP's album, DEMONS AND WIZARDS is also done by *Roger Dean.*

[@JamoboBorg]

It's a real pity the Close to the Edge art didn't fully make it to CD. The beautiful psychedelia of Bitches Brew and even the foldout cross of Black Moses made it to my copies and are wonderful inclusions even in miniature

[@modpodgehoney7041]

reminds me of the intensely detailed psychedelic gatefold artwork inside Eat a Peach by the Allman Brothers Band

[@thisisqualia]

You might have my favorite KZbin channel ever. And when you dive deep on prog rock... I truly love you, dude.

[@GiI11]

I've owned the vinyl for about 10 years and, despite this being perhaps my favorite of Dean's works, I hadn't seen the little dwelling until now. Great job, as always.

[@Aquatarkus96]

Roger Dean is amazing, and yes is amazing as well! I've always loved both the outer and inner artwork, the outer artwork acting to entice you. "A simple gradient? Whats That all about?" *opens the album* oh damn!

[@happyron]

Another thing about album art in the past was that it was often the only thing we knew about artists, before you could find everything on the internet. No videos, no biography, and no interviews - or at least those things were very rare. Such a great time ti be a fan now

[@matthewforce]

I remember discovering this album on Spotify several years ago. As a huge fan of Roger Dean, I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of his stunning landscapes. The moment I found out the inner cover was adorned with what could be his best work, I went out and bought the Vinyl as soon as I had the money. It's great to read all the comments celebrating this album specifically!

[@cloudbloom]

I miss the importance of album packaging and how cool it was to read everything inside the lining. I grew up with cassette tapes and I would obsessively study the album covers it was great

[@canturgan]

He also did the cover for Osibisa, a very popular (in the UK) west African band.

[@57hound]

Dean’s artwork caused me to buy that album back in the ‘70s, then the music sucked me in. I still listen to it.

[@NightHawk59]

Roger Dean, in an interview, discussed album artwork from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. He stated that that was a unique period when you could give someone the gift of music wrapped in the gift of art. What an apt description of that period (so glad that was "my time" to be involved in music).

[@wendellwiggins3776]

ABSURD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I was a teen in 1972 into Nature, philosophically fiction & spiritual books, LSD, Art/Design, Roger Dean and progressive Culture, I felt the choice of this GREEN COVER only with the brand new gorgeous YES logo was absolutely ORGANICALLY BEAUTIFUL! especially after opening up the Gatefold to the full spread endless waterfall painting. BORING? SMH What a ridiculous statement to say out loud!

[@Zronium]

One of my all time favourite albums. glad you're covering it in some form

[@davidmg7058]

I would love to see a whole breakdown of the actual music in this album, its amazing

[@macfilms9904]

I was introduced to Close to the Edge in 1978 or so, by a friend's older brother - and I then bought the vinyl and listened to it on headphones and stared at that inner artwork.

[@raccoonboi3815]

So glad you finally made an episode on Yes. I've been obsessed with for over a year now

[@XtraHappy]

The functionality for this sort of thing does already exist, I just don't feel it's all that utilised. Spotify has its Canvas feature on mobile, and Apple Music has animated visualisers on some newer mainstream albums. Out of the two, despite being on mobile only, Spotify canvases are far better. Apple Music visualisers are nice, but only allow for gifs of the front cover. I've seen examples of Spotify canvases have different artwork for individual tracks. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's Murder Of The Universe is the best example that comes to mind, having unique canvases for its separate chapters, and other albums in their discography having some unique canvases for separate tracks (even if just snippets of their respective music videos). It'd be possible to have something like fly-overs or zoom-ins on the inner gatefold art on different tracks while the album plays out. I have no idea why I don't see more of it, whether its just a lack of knowledge of them by artists/labels, or moreso if they're reserved for bigger artists. The biggest problem with something like this is, much like the music hosted on the streaming services itself, it's all dependent on the service still existing. Say an artist creates unique art for a new release, then in a decade's time Spotify goes under; that artwork is then lost unless a similar streaming service creates a 1:1 visualiser system. You can guarantee an LP will still exist at the end of the day - can you guarantee a data hoarder has downloaded the canvases/visualisers all in time, or that the artist still has them saved? Even if they do still exist after that, what happens then? They get uploaded to a third-party site and you have to play the music externally while you watch? Hardly the same experience. I'll end by saying imo the best way to do it is to have single art tie-in to the main cover, and have that assigned to unique tracks - it gives them a sense of purpose within the album while not detracting from the full experience. Justice's Woman Worldwide is a great example, having edited and messed up versions of the main cover. Also a quick since this is already a rambly mess, p.s: Bandcamp allows artists to assign individual track art within an album, thank the lord.

[@MrTheBaron]

It may be "boring" album cover with 3 songs, but it's an album among prog pantheon.

[@p5gBand]

One of my favorite album from my all time favorite band.

[@Blue_]

This album is so good I failed my first unit of chemistry because the title track was so wormed into my head I couldn't pay attention to what my teacher was saying. It's one of the greatest pieces of art ever.

[@insidethelyrics]

Finally a new video! You help me discover a lot of new/great stuff.

[@l0nlym1lk17]

Really great editing on this one

[@CartoonSlug]

Really shit

[@l0nlym1lk17]

​@@CartoonSlug quit being mean

[@CasualSpud]

ELO's Out of the Blue was my favorite as a kid.. Gatefold with the band working inside the spaceship

[@blameitonyaboi]

i got so triggered when i saw "Boring' Album Cover" next to a thumbnail of one of my favorite album covers. still glad i clicked the video :D

[@jackroberts2704]

Vinyl packaging is very cool, unfortunately not having enough money is a thing

[@diegoq8417]

My favorite album, perfect in all ways, with a minimalist cover.

[@Xdxdxdmoneu]

Goes hard, crazy secret

[@Miler97487]

I bought this album originally on cassette back in 1991 when I was 18. What I couldn't understand why the band used such a generic cover. Then I came across the LP, and I say, "Oh!" The goodies are in the gatefold. The cassette barely gave me anything. No inner artwork, no listing of band personnel or much anything besides the front cover and track listing. That cover made me think of Dutch band Earth & Fire with their second album Song of the Marching Children (1971) where the cover is solid black with the album title displayed on top and band name encircled by a wreath near the bottom, but that was it. I do find the front cover less generic than the front of Close to the Edge but there wasn't much in the way of artwork aside from the wreath. Inside is trippy psychedelic artwork that just blew me away!

[@jeffreywillstewart]

As an artist living in the Bay Area in the 70's. It was inevitable , that music and music art was a major influence. with 4 siblings we each had the entire catalogue of at least two of out favorite bands. Yes and the Who were my two. Dean's ethereal style fit the daydream of discovering the albums. And he was the originator of the flying fish ( on the Topagraphical album) that has evolved into flying whales used in modern fantasy Harry Potter , Fantasia 11. etc.

[@musamusashi]

Dean also designed logo and several album covers for Gahanian fusion band Osibisa, one of the first "world music" stars.

[@bobzenger6845]

I went straight to my close to the edge vinyl to look at the inside before you showed it haha

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

completely agree, and entirely fixable problem

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

There's ANOTHER secret to the gatefold(inner) artwork that you didn't mention. In his table-top book "Views," Roger Dean mentions that he was still learning how to spray paint when he produced this cover, and he didn't know about how attracted CATS are to spray-paint. Roger used mixed media in painting the gatefold, using different types of paint. When he finished the background, he left the artwork facing up(so it wouldn't run) in his studio when he finished for the night, and the next morning, he was horrified to discover cat paw prints on his artwork! He was able to hide much of it by repainting the details, but the paw prints in the sky had to be carefully sprayed over and couldn't be hidden completely. You can still see them, especially where the white mists fade into the blue at the top. He hid 'em pretty well, but they're still there, if you look. Actually, they add to the character of the mist, and it appears more realistic with the paw prints faintly visible which is why he left them as is, without eliminating them completely. Roger designed the famous Yes logo and did many of their album covers, and also designed stage sets for some of their tours during the 1970s - he works in sculpting and mechanical designs, as well.

[@Shadowbannddiscourse]

Man it's a trip to be a part of 3 different generations of how music was packaged as a kid I was a fan of albums because of their covers as well as what was on the inside with their music Roger Dean has always been one of my favorite bands as well so for me I still have just that way of looking at that album because I saw it as an album and there's nothing like that today I can't put myself in the same frame of mind as a lot of the kids today because of me growing up in the seventies eighties and nineties and seeing it transfer from vinyl to tape to CD and then audio file I think it may have stopped in the early nineties with C d's or probably more so with the audio file thanks either way I could never forget the way that albums were presented back then it was a prize it was like you got 2 great things in one great artwork and great music.. Yes close to the edges of masterpiece 1 of my favorite albums by them actually the 1st 5 years of that band is my favorite bill Bruford and Chris Squire are like a rad rhythm section and everything else that yes did within that time I'm really at the end of I like their stuff no matter what but that's my favorite period between 1969 to 1972 and then bill Bruford Joined King Crimson for my favorite period of that band

[@Fritha71]

This masterpiece of an album ( and it's astounding artwork ) had its' 50th birthday just now! It was released September 13, 1972 in the States and a few days earlier in the UK. It has always irked me that it wasn't released on the 12th when I turned one 😌 In my top three desert island disks for sure! And if I ever get to have a dedicated music room, the inner sleeve painting will adorn the wall...

[@frazbo11]

Thanks for this video, as someone who didn't grow up with the vinyl this would have been lost to me, especially as I was never a fan of the outer cover, so knowing it is designed to contrast with the inner, and that the inner art invokes exactly what I imaged when listening to this album, is very gratifying

[@civilian8697]

Classic album! One my favs from the band.

[@tylerhackner9731]

YES! Love Yes! Love this band love this album

[@josephtabar492]

Any man with a soul LOVES 👍THIS ALBUM BY YES!..... 🎸👍

[@1feloniouspunk]

Fantastic episode! Literally and metaphorically.

[@GG-kp3gf]

Wow. I'd love to hear about the packaging of other albums

[@emceesmith6665]

This brilliant Dean painting is tucked in the middle of the booklet for my Atlantic CD release of "Close to the Edge" and I've noticed it ever since I've picked up that record. Roger Dean's covers for Yes and other bands are some of the best ever made, and until this review I didn't even realize how beautiful this CTTE art is. Subscriber earned for this one

[@xdef1ne]

Digital streaming killed album artwork & the way the music was packaged. That’s why vinyl is still the best way to consume music.

[@marcsullivan7987]

And…you could break up your weed and shake the seeds out in a gatefold.

[@ayacrystal9622]

Really appreciate this video on one of my favorite albums of all time. The album artwork had astounded me from day one. You're not wrong about how opening up the album and discovering the gatefold can mimic a feeling of enlightenment.. As Jon Anderson would eventually go on to explain his meaning behind the title as representative of himself "Close to the Edge" of enlightenment, a spiritual breakthrough, which shone on Topographic, Yes' next studio album. One of my favorite pieces of trivia behind the artwork of Close to the Edge is that it's actually part of a continuous story which spans Fragile, CttE, and Yessongs. As Fragile depicts on its cover the distant view of a planet breaking apart from the inside, Close to the Edge shows a closer view of the same instance. Then across the 4 artworks of Yessongs tells the further story of the bits of remaining planet drifting away through space before affixing themselves to the landscape of another planet.. The story told across these albums then even inspired the story in Jon Anderson's solo album Olias of Sunhillow. Even the front cover (the "Moorglade Mover") is inspired by the ship soaring above the planet on Fragile. I couldn't agree more about the nature of album art in digital mediums. The interactivity and physicality of the art can be integral to many albums, yet there doesn't seem to be any push to extend these things into a digital form..

[@JohnSmithAprilMay]

I only got into them in the last ten years. I got the record off amazon, took the cellophane off, opened the sleeve, and wow. I was not expecting that. Such a neat concept.

[@thecosmicblueautie]

Him talking about album covers reminds me also of the way Beck did the album cover for The Information and Princ and the New Generation's Diamonds and Pearls. Nothing should ever make people but albums more than the Easter eggs in the covers.

[@stuartfishman1044]

My favorite Prog Rock band? Either King Crimson or Can. Agree with you about the artwork for Close To The Edge, though.

[@joho0]

Please do In Through The Out Door by Led Zeppelin The album sleeve of the original pressing had a "magic paint" picture on it. If you colored it with just water, the picture would change from black and white to color. Of course, this ruined the collectability of the album and later pressings didn't include the sleeve, so very few remain in their original condition.

[@Armchair235]

I think one point you were missing was that the mundane front cover is I think a close up of the lake‘s water. It is the exact same colour with varying shades of green, just like the light creates on the lake. And it fits with everything you said very well too. Like how you miss the big picture because you‘re so focused on your daily vision. You often don‘t realize the beauty you are a part of. Love your videos btw. You‘re a great artist.

[@Armchair235]

Or image being in that lake and staring down into the abyssal depths. You would be literally close to the edge. Then the frontcover would be an artpiece inside the bigger artpiece. It is referencing each other.

[@JamesKovacic]

A perfect album. Most albums don’t come anywhere close, and even fewer surpass it

[@johnhall9160]

I am thankful that I grew up in the 70's....my first album I bought at age 14 was Led Zepplin 2. I would sit and listen to the album on my parents stereo staring at the album cover from front to back over and over....today's generation does not have that ability or get to really experience the music.

[@wackjobius1588]

I can definitely attest to the album being an entirely different listening experience on a phone. I first found the album on Spotify and just didn't really get it. I liked it, sure, but the context of Spotify made it feel more like content than art to be engaged with which made the album feel pretentious and gaudy. Even when I went out of my way to engage with the album as a piece of art, the framing was still limiting. Luckily though, I happened upon an old vinyl copy at a yard sale. After seeing the inner artwork, it just clicked. I think I ended up staring at it for a good 15 minutes, tracing my way around every edge of the endless waterfalls. Playing this album with the inner sleeve as a visual aid and being able to read the lyrics in their fancy font on the record sleeve is simply sublime. I don't even care that the audio reproduction gets really staticky when the organs hit, the art moment created by playing this on record is just... ahh it makes me melt. Makes me feel whole. Phenomenal album. Love it to death. Edit: Another wonderful thing about listening to the vintage copy is that the lady who owned it before me clearly loved the album as much as I do since it's been a bit worn! To me, the history behind my specific copy means more than having perfect (or even great) audio quality.

[@bentleycoupe8788]

Yes were the truth. The early 70s prog movement was great. I loved yes, ELP, genesis and king crimson.

[@liamab182]

we need something where you can tap on the cover and see all the art the project came packaged with, similar to what's on Genius

[@triledink]

I love when album covers have a gatefold that shows the whole art. Just like the Yes album. The death metal band Autopsy's third album Acts of the unspeakable uses a closeup of a small part of the art work, if you own the vinyl version the gatefold shows the whole pictures and even refrences to a few songs on the album which is a nice detail.

[@matheusmelo2431]

I think it’s something personal but the front artwork always reminded me of the bottom of the ocean and uncharted waters, which also encapsulates perfectly the grandiosity and that element of mysteriousness present in the album. It’s ambiguity is what draws my attention to it. Might be an ugly green to some but I guess that’s really just a matter of taste.

[@yensid4294]

Much of Roger Dean's album cover art was available in high quality prints. I used to have one up on my bedroom wall. It wasn't that unusual for certain album covers to also have print posters. It was also very common for people to use their records as wall decor. I definitely enjoyed listening to music while looking at the art & band photos or reading all the liner notes, lyrics & poems that may have been printed inside or even on the dust sleeve. It was an entire, immersive sensory experience to listen to & enjoy a vinyl record that you don't get nowadays with digital versions or streaming services.

[@DeGuerre]

One of my favourite pieces of album "art" is "Five Miles Out" by Mike Oldfield. The cover is a good painting which gives the mood of the title track, but the inner sleeve is the track sheet for one entire side: Taurus II. You can literally follow along.

[@boomerdell]

This is fantastic, Noah, thank you so much! I’m a Nebula and Curiosity Stream subscriber, and I also share your view that Pink Floyd’s album ‘Wish You Were Here’ is one of the greatest ever produced, so I am absolutely heading to Nebula to watch your work.😊

[@CerdurTV]

apple music lets the record labels add banners, they're just not caught up to it fully i guess.

[@mhoppy6639]

Out of the blue by ELO was endlessly fascinating. As a child in 1977 it really sent my imagination skywards.

[@idreamofgenie2599]

As Yes's "Close to the Edge" is probably my favorite album of all time, I have to say I've always liked its front cover. It doesn't matter to me that it's "minimalist"--in fact, that is its strength. You see the black field at the top gradually turning into the fluorescent green light at the bottom. What does the green color represent? Are we, the listeners, getting "close to the edge" of some kind of illumination? Or is it the other way around, and is the green light is gradually fading to blackness--and if so, what does that mean? Like the title of the album itself, and like the music and lyrics inside, the front cover is open to any number of possible interpretations--and I love that. I don't dislike the painting on the inner gatefold--and it's great to include it and admire it here--but it's the front cover that hits the mark for me. It's one more important element that makes this album a masterpiece.

[@rollamcnut]

Great video & analysis as always.

[@dg-low314]

I feel like Companies are finally catching on to this lack with digital presentation, lot of newer and well known classic releases on Itunes know have animated covers for albums you buy/download. Its a small step but I think its the right direction for engaging new listeners.

[@fran98832]

Dude, I couldn't agree more with you, the artwork of an album really inmerses you in the music, great video !!!

[@joseislanio8910]

It's a similar feel with thick as a brick

[@originaluddite]

Redesigning album art for contemporary presentation would be a different challenge for each album. For Close To The Edge, you could use the green cover as a frame for the fold-out. For Bitches Brew you could just turn the whole spread into the standard image one sees. Others would be more difficult.

[@josephconstantine1799]

Great video! I also really thought it was cool that you used the James Webb photos as the background imagery as well.

[@seanfraser9162]

Im always excited to see a new episode of Polyphonic.

[@omegnal9848]

I’d be fascinated to see a video on Tales From Topographic Oceans. It would be an absolute beast of a video but it’s such an under-appreciated masterpiece that deserves to be picked apart and analyzed like this

[@francoisberube1300]

This is really good because the KZbinr "The Prog Corner" released a video 2 days ago entitled "What's your favorite prog album cover?" I think my favorite is the inside of Steve Hackett's "Voyage of the Acolyte" cover with the hermit which is so inspiring! Thank you for your videos which are always very interesting and captivating!

[@davetinoco]

There is nothing like Close to the Edge. I can state for a fact that that section, I get uuuuuuuuuuppppppp....as that Amazing ORGAN begins blasting....I get chills EVERY SINGLE TIME.

[@federov100]

This album cover was why I bought the album. When I bought it in 1976, I had never heard of Yes. The album was shrink wrapped, so I had no idea what awaited me once opened. But it was the way the cover art suggested a ‘peaceful green beyond’ that hooked me, the artwork captured my imagination.

[@Founder-]

I bought this album on vinyl its even cooler in person on some original copies it comes with a textured sleeve which gives it a lot of detail.

[@RubyNemesis]

While I love the art, single LP albums that use gatefold covers are a bit of a pet peeve of mine because they feel unearned. Yes did this a couple of times because Fragile also does that, albeit without art on the gatefold. Like with 2LP gatefold albums, it makes sense because each record could be put in either side of the sleeve, but if you only have one LP, it feels like a waste of half of the packaging. I understand why its done though, it provides additional space for art and text that would otherwise have to be crammed onto the paper sleeve of the LP or the back of the album otherwise. The only problem with changing the way album art is displayed is that it'll annoy anyone using digital files who'd now have to either reacquire all their songs whose art has changed or re-tag their music manually to include the extended art. Record companies would also hate it because then they'd be obligated to support it or it'd become an artifact of the tagging system like lyrics have.

[@Aquatarkus96]

>re-tag their music manually to include the extended art Automatic tagging software such as Mp3tag make this extremely trivial, not much more difficult than renaming the file.

[@lisajefferies3392]

My favourite album of all time! I also love the outer cover - it reminds me of what it’s like to descend deep into a lake. It’s the reason green is my favourite colour. 💚

[@petiteflower5259]

Your Wish You Were Here video was amazing, great job :)

[@lcarthel]

Fragile is their best album IMHO.